York Town News
Officials to take a close look at TABOR at meeting tonight
By Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK - Tonight, the School Committee is going to be taking a long, hard look at the citizen-petitioned "Taxpayer Bill of Rights" or TABOR initiative, set to be on the ballot Nov. 7.Following the meeting held tonight, Wednesday, Sept. 20, the committee hopes to be working in conjunction with the Board of Selectmen to continue to provide information on what TABOR opponents believe will be dire impacts on local services if the plan becomes a reality.
The Board of Selectmen has not yet taken an official stance regarding TABOR, but the School Committee is expected to do just that at tonight's meeting.
Across the state, the issue is a heated one.
Geoff Herman, director of state and federal relations for the Maine Municipal Association, went on the record in that association's publication, the Maine Townsman, in opposition of the proposal before the citizens' petition was even certified as having the required signatures for this November's ballot.
"When the voters in Colorado decided last month to suspend that state's version of TABOR, they showed that when a spending limitation system goes too far, it replaces the organic intelligence of a legislative body with the artificial intelligence of a formula," Herman wrote of TABOR in December. "That dysfunctional autopilot which occurred in Colorado is doubly likely with Mary Adams' approach. For example, Mary Adams' TABOR would require the following for all three categories of local governments in Maine - the municipalities, school districts and counties: a population-based growth limitation formula at the local level, which is not a part of Colorado's TABOR and doesn't work coherently in a state like Maine; a year-to-year growth allowance that constricts local budgets much more forcefully than both the Colorado version of TABOR and LD 1, in many cases requiring negative budgets; no reasonably accessible process to override the local growth limitation when necessary, unlike both the Colorado version of TABOR and LD 1; two-thirds 'supermajority' voting at town meetings, to be followed by mandated town-wide referendums, before any fee (such as the fee to dump a truckload of roofing shingles at the transfer station) can be increased by so much as a penny, and annual or near-annual revaluations to avoid engaging in extensive, 'supermajority' voting procedures just to adopt the town budget. Mary Adams' TABOR proposal is a slap in the face to both home rule and majority rule, under the apparent belief that the town meeting doesn't know how to conduct its business."
The Maine Heritage Policy Center, which drafted the Taxpayer Bill of Rights model legislation that Adams, a Garland resident, used as the basis for TABOR, has countered such claims.
"As authors of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights for Maine, we are compelled to set the record straight," Bill Becker, president and chief executive officer of the Maine Heritage Policy Center, stated in a release issued this summer in response to criticism of TABOR. "This measure is reasonable, fair and well-written. The Taxpayer Bill of Rights offers a positive solution to Maine's onerous taxes while allowing for additional government growth. … I encourage all Mainers to learn more about the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. Once people learn about the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, they will see that it is a reasonable proposal that will have a positive impact on all Mainers."
York Superintendent of Schools Dr. Henry Scipione confirmed last week that the agenda for tonight's School Committee meeting includes a proposed resolution for the board to take formal action in opposition to TABOR, following on discussions earlier this month on the extent to which the plan could cripple even schools and municipalities such as in York, where voters currently decide each and every budget request.
Scipione and Assistant Superintendent Jim Amoroso attended a recent forum in Augusta on TABOR that included a speech by a Colorado state legislator.
"They have had it in place for 15 years … and in his words, it's been an incredible disaster," Scipione said following the forum.
That legislator is not the only Colorado official with that view. For example, statistics released since TABOR was enacted in Colorado in 1992 indicate that state has dropped from 35th in the nation to 49th out of the 50 in terms of funding of K-12 public education, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Colorado has also lost its ability to fund public health programs and medical insurance, the center states. Neil Westergaard, editor of the Denver Business Journal, is quoted as stating that Colorado business leaders "have figured out that no business would survive if it were run like the TABOR faithful say Colorado should be run - with withering tax support for college and universities, under-funded public schools and a future of crumbling roads and bridges."
Adams and Maine TABOR proponents, however, have issued press releases on their website quoting other Colorado officials supporting the plan and pointing to Colorado's rank as having the ninth highest per capita income in the country as just one indicator of TABOR as a success story.
Locally, Scipione and Town Manager Rob Yandow were scheduled to meet within the week to discuss TABOR's impact on York as a whole.
"We're going to develop a plan on how we're going to communicate the facts to the community," Scipione said. "We realize that the vote is only seven weeks away."
When the School Committee agreed to schedule a public discussion and review of TABOR, its members acknowledged that without the full information, TABOR seems like an easy answer to taxes.
Named "An Act to Create the Taxpayer Bill of Rights," the TABOR proposal seeks to limit all state, county, educational and local spending to the rate of inflation, plus population growth with mandated majority approval for any tax and fee increases beyond that amount.
"Without understanding the details of that, it's very hard to say no to it," School Committee Chairwoman Patty Hymanson said during a recent discussion of the initiative. "… The wording on the ballot is 'Mom and Apple Pie.' It's nothing that anybody would ever reject - but the reality is that it would cause a tremendous change in the amount of money that our schools can collect. … If this had been in place over the past five years, it would have drastically changed our district."
Local officials have pointed out that the TABOR-imposed limits would not cover such unavoidable annual increases as healthcare, contracted salaries or energy costs.
"You can't sustain the schools," School Committee member Tim Fitzgerald said.
"You can't run anything on that," School Committee member John D'Aquila said, adding that on the town side of the fiscal equation, such projects as a new municipal complex or public safety building would be caught up in the TABOR limits and, across the board, residents could expect to see sacrifices in programming, capital planning and jobs. "It's very, very scary and very daunting."
The TABOR proposal in Maine, if enacted by the voters in November, would authorize the new Maine Legislature to put TABOR into practice. Fitzgerald pointed out the difference between Maine and Colorado in terms of TABOR is that the bill as proposed does not bind the state legislature to the wording on the ballot.
"If this is passed, then it becomes the responsibility of the legislature to turn it into statute," Scipione agreed. "So they can do, frankly, anything they want with it."
School Committee Vice Chairwoman Marilyn Zotos pointed out that TABOR will allow the state legislature to "dictate to us when we've been taken care of our own business."
D'Aquila said he hopes the School Committee and the Board of Selectmen will be able to provide full information on the implications of TABOR in the weeks ahead.
"I think it would be devastating for all of us," Fitzgerald said of the schools and the community as a whole.
Zotos pointed out, however, that not everyone in York sees TABOR the same way.
"There are people serving on boards in this town that are in favor of it," she said.
In planning for the weeks ahead, Hymanson said the School Department's goal is to detail the facts about TABOR and its implications in a non-judgmental way.
Tonight's meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. at the York Public Library, will include a discussion of the TABOR initiatives, responses to questions from the last meeting and an agenda item calling for action by the board to take a position on TABOR. The meeting is open to the public and general public comment will be accepted at the start of the evening.
"For me, the answers are in the numbers," Hymanson said.
